So...I am definitely confused. I had heard a story that these two communities actually came from the same group of Armenians, who ended up splitting, almost like a Protestant fraction, splitting into two separate churches, from the same group.

How prevalent is this? How did this all really come about? Just trying to figure out any kind of history or story here.

If this is the wrong section for this, please let me know and feel free to move it...

The first church--St Stephen's Armenian Apostolic Church--is a canonical Armenian Orthodox church. In the 'about us' section it makes clear that it is under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Church which is, "affiliated with and under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of the Great House of Cilicia, located in Antelias, Lebanon. His Holiness Aram I is the Catholicos of the See of Cilicia."

The Armenian Orthodox Church has come to be known as 'the Armenian Apostolic Church' within the last century or so. I offered my own brief explanation of this on my website:

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Since its occupation under the Soviet Union, the Armenian Orthodox Church has also come to be known as the ‘Armenian Apostolic Church.’ The latter name was one coined and imputed upon the Armenian Church by the Russian Orthodox occupants and undoubtedly reflects their confessional prejudice. As such, whilst most Armenians have unwittingly adopted the title in question in relation to their Church, others, such as His Eminence Arhcbishop Baliozian, consider it disparaging given their conscious awareness of the context in which it arose.

« Last Edit: January 23, 2009, 03:37:46 PM by EkhristosAnesti »

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No longer an active member of this forum. Sincerest apologies to anyone who has taken offence to anything posted in youthful ignorance or negligence prior to my leaving this forum - October, 2012.

"Philosophy is the imitation by a man of what is better, according to what is possible" - St Severus

Armenian Protestantism started in the 19th century. Protestant missionaries came to the Ottoman Empire originally to convert Muslims. Then when they discovered that could get them killed, they switched to converting Orthodox.

In my grandfather's village they built a school and then required anyone interested in enrolling their child to convert. My grandfather's grandfather responded to this by building a school of his own where the Orthodox could enroll their children without having to abandon their Church. The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople rewarded him by sending a letter praising his work and changing his name from Baljanian to Parichanian, which means "one who does good."

There are Armenian Protestant Churches today of various denominations. I would say that Armenian Protestants make up less than five percent of the total Armenian population, but they are a very visible and active group.

To me, Armenian chant is as unique as Georgian, Russian, Byzantine, Coptic or any other sort of chant. It is unique in it's own right. It is possible that you may find it similar to Latin because of Gregorian chant? Both in their original forms are monophonic...other than this I can't see any similarity. Armenian chant is very fond of what we would call in the West the "harmonic minor" scale, which gives it its distinctive "Middle Eastern" sound. However, even this doesn't fully explain Armenian chant, because the Coptic Church also uses "Middle Eastern" melodies, and the two traditions sound completely different.

The "westernization" of Armenian chant and liturgical singing probably began somewhere at the beginning/middle of the 19th century when the music started to be dictated using Western notation by people like the Mkhitarists and later Komitas Vartabed and Markar Yekmalian. This new musical setting probably brought a more "western" sound to it due to the nature of Western notation. Still, to me the music is very haunting and is almost nothing like western music, especially if you look at some of the RC's modern songs...

As for the influence of Latin Christianity: you have to realize that the Church didn't exist in a vacuum and was constantly changing hands between Rome, Byzantium, Persians, Arabs (and later) the Turks. At that time, Armenians probably weren't as concerned with perserving "cultural homogeneity" as they are today. They might have adopted certain cultural practices of the empire at the time to show fidelity or just simply because they liked that particular tradition. Personally, I think it's cool when the Bishop comes to serve Liturgy and the deacons have to hold up his hat (mitre) in front of everyone.

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [...] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -The Lord Jesus Christ

No longer active on OC.net. Please pray for me and forgive any harm I might have caused by my ignorance and malice. Pls email me, don't send PMs.

Armenians, when speaking Armenian, usually refer to their Church as "Arakelagan," which means Apostolic. As EA indicated above, however, that is a relatively recent thing. If you look at the liturgy and prayers, our Church is referred to as "Ooghapar," which means Orthodox. For example, St. Nerses' 19th prayer refers to our faith as "orthodox faith":

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Bestower of mercy, grant that I may come to Thee with orthodox faith, good works, and with the communion of Thy Holy Body and Blood. Have mercy upon Thy creatures and upon me, a manifold sinner.